


One Hour Away

by SamCyberCat



Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21847126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: Sousuke and Rin have been in a long distance relationship for a while and they make it work, but sometimes they miss the intimacy of being physically close to each other. Thankfully Sousuke thinks he has the answer (Rin might not agree with him).
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	One Hour Away

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the SouRin Zine, Underwater Kisses. I've been looking forward to posting this one for a long time. It's such an honour to be included in a zine with so many amazing creators from all across the SouRin fandom and I'm especially grateful to Pirate Heartbeat for making sure this zine made it out into the world.
> 
> You can view the zine for free here to appreciate all the wonderful work in it:
> 
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gBArO3dF0MMI-XAaavkKqqOZL0Uy3Htk/view

A mere one hour. That was the time difference between Iwatobi, Japan and Sydney, Australia. It was nothing to complain about and Sousuke generally wasn't a person who could be accused of complaining anyway. When it came to most things in his life, he just got on with it for better and worse. But if he had complained and someone had confronted him with the logic “But it's just one hour”, then Sousuke would argue that the hour itself wasn't the only factor that kept him from Rin. Their hectic schedules played a large part, especially lately.

Rin was the most driven individual that Sousuke had ever met. He threw himself into training from morning to night, pushing his whole being into becoming the perfect athlete, with the intention of one day standing at the top of the world stage and proving that he was the best. He'd do it again and again for as long as he could. And Sousuke truly believed that Rin could do it, that Rin had this determination inside him more than anyone else in the world did.   
  
Which was why, despite their relationship, Sousuke didn't want to do anything that would risk taking away that training time Rin needed. Sousuke knew that if he said this out loud, Rin would assure him it was fine, that he had plenty of time to train regardless. So Sousuke kept quiet about his desire not to impose on Rin's time and acted on it without telling Rin. Which would only annoy Rin even more if he did find out, but Sousuke would deal with that if it came to it. An irritated Rin could be a fun challenge in itself.

Yet Rin's schedule wasn't the only factor that kept them from talking to each other. Now that Sousuke had pursued surgery and began the road to recovery, a lot of his own time was being taken up with the physical therapy. He could no longer wait by the phone for whatever time worked best for Rin and when he did get home in the evenings, he was often exhausted. Gone were the days when Sousuke could push himself so hard that he broke his body. That was for the best.

But no matter how exhausted he was, Sousuke would never be too tired for Rin. When that phone buzzed, Sousuke rolled over in his bed and answered it, his eyes heavy with sleep.

“You look like roadkill, Sousuke. It's later over here than it is where you are, you know?” Rin chided, his eyebrows raised in fond amusement.

“It's called sleep. Some people do it,” Sousuke replied.

He yawned openly, a wide-mouthed yawn. The two of them had known each other too long for offense to be caused by something like that. Sousuke shuffled to sit up, resting himself against the headboard and not bothering to fix his ruffled hair. From past experiences, he reckoned that Rin liked the bedhead look.

“Of course I know what sleep is. I have to get plenty of rest to make sure I'm in top shape. It's just that training ran on long today and I wanted to keep at it. Sousuke, I keep smashing my personal best again and again. How far do you think I can push this?” Rin asked.

“If it's you, as far as it can be taken.”

“Everyone has their limits, Sousuke,” said Rin. Then there was a pause as what he'd said dawned on him properly, “I didn't mean that-”

“-I know you didn't. It's fine,” Sousuke assured, before Rin could work himself up, “You don't have to worry about me so much any more. I'm on my way there, even if I'm a few steps behind the rest of you. And no matter what, I believe that you can do it.”

“You say that, but I want to worry about you. Even if I don't have to...”

“Come on, you didn't call me just to get emotional.”

“I'm not emotional...!”

“You always are.”

Sousuke watched as Rin's face shifted into a defined pout. He couldn't stop himself from smirking at that, which didn't help matters at all. When several moments went by without Rin saying anything, Sousuke gave in and waved him off.

“All right, I'm sorry. You're fine, really. You're more than fine,” he said.

“I should hope so,” huffed Rin, “B-but anyway... I was going to say that I've been missing you a lot today. I know we only talked yesterday, but even so. It's just... not the same. Last time I came to Tokyo, we got to hold and touch each other. I got to kiss you... But now we're so far away.”

Perhaps it wasn't technically that far away, but to both of them it felt like they might as well be on the other side of the world. If Sousuke could, then he'd fly out to Sydney in an instant. But he needed to save his money for his physical therapy. Besides, Sousuke had taken it upon himself to look after the underclassmen from Samezuka and Iwatobi, even after his own graduation. Rin had said on multiple occasions that he was glad Sousuke was doing this and had pushed himself to maintain friendships outside of his previously small circle.

All the same, Sousuke and Rin missed each other.

“Well, I can still kiss you from here,” said Sousuke.

“You actually can't,” Rin argued, “All the emojis in the world aren't the same as an actual kiss.”

“Sure. But this is the next best thing.”

“Sousuke? What are you...? Ughhh, noo! That's gross!”

All the while Rin protested as Sousuke leaned forward to softly place his lips against the screen of his phone. In hindsight it was a bad idea and Sousuke was lucky he didn't accidentally end the call. But it was worth it to hear Rin get flustered. When he pulled back, Sousuke carefully wiped his phone screen, chuckling at how indignant Rin was.

“What even was that? That doesn't count at all!”

“It's the best we're gonna get for a while.”

“The worst part is, I know you're right about that,” said Rin. Then he added, “...So do you want me to do it back?”

“Nah, not if it weirds you out that much,” Sousuke said.

“It's not that bad... I guess I overreacted. Just... don't tell anyone I did this, okay?”

As if Sousuke would. It was hardly something he'd gossip to Nanase about. Besides, Sousuke was flattered that Rin would do this for him. He watched quietly as Rin shuffled awkwardly close, pecking a kiss onto his phone screen much quicker than Sousuke had.

Unlike Sousuke, Rin did accidentally hang up the call.

Sousuke howled with laughter.

A few moments later, Rin called him back. As soon as Sousuke answered the call, a very red-faced Rin was on his case.

“I knew you'd be laughing! I just knew it! Ugh, this was such a bad idea...!”

“It was,” Sousuke agreed, “And thanks for doing it anyway.”

“...Anything for you, Sousuke.”

Hearing that made Sousuke's heart swell. For all their posturing and banter, the bond the two of them shared together ran deep. Neither of them wanted to lose it. Hopefully they never would.

“Let's not make that our regular thing though,” Rin added, able to tell that Sousuke didn't have the words to reply to what he'd said just before that.

“Whatever you say, boss.”

“I'm not your boss. Please don't make that a thing either.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sousuuukeee...!”

“Fine, I'll cut it out,” said Sousuke, “And you'd better get some rest, since I know you'll be up at something stupid like 5am tomorrow.”

“Something like that. Well... goodnight, Sousuke.”

“Goodnight, Rin.”

They looked at each other, neither of them wanting to hang up, even after they'd just agreed to. So Sousuke did what he'd just agreed not to do – he pressed forward to kiss the phone screen once again, this time purposely hanging up on Rin. The last thing he heard were Rin's weak protests.

Yes, he might just have to make this into their thing.


End file.
